Alexios (2024)

Alexios (Greek: Αλεξιος; 451 BCE – 422 BCE), also known as Deimos, was a Sage of the Cult of Kosmos, an organization active in ancient Greece.

Alongside his older half-sister, the famed misthios Kassandra, he was a grandchild of King Leonidas I of Sparta through his mother, Myrrine, as well as a hybrid. His unique heritage made him the target of the Cult as an infant and a false oracle delivered by the Cult deceived Sparta into believing he had to be thrown off Mount Taygetos to his death.

Although he survived the fall, Alexios was abducted by the Cultist Chrysis and forced to endure a cruel and torturous childhood. His harsh upbringing warped his mind, brainwashing him into becoming a weapon of the Cult convinced that he was their champion, Deimos. In reality, the other Cultists only saw him as a deranged beast which served their purposes.

Not content with their control over Alexios, the Cult sought the assassinations of the rest of his family: Nikolaos, Myrinne, and Kassandra. At a conclave assembled by Deimos, he met his long lost sister for the first time in years while she was masquerading as one of the Cultists in order to learn the whereabouts of their mother.

Over the next several years, as the Peloponnesian War raged, Alexios continued serving as Cult's brutal instrument all the while his sister assassinated its members in a desperate attempt to protect her family and redeem him. Her efforts ultimately fell short when Alexios, guilt-ridden over his monstrous actions, forced her to kill him during a final confrontation atop Mount Taygetos.

Biography

Early life

Born in 451 BCE to Myrrine, the daughter of the late King Leonidas I of Sparta, and Nikolaos, a Spartan commander, Alexios was the younger half-brother of Kassandra.^[2] Shortly after his birth, the Pythia Praxithea prophesied that Leonidas' grandson would bring about Sparta's downfall. Unbeknownst to those involved at the time, the "prophecy" had been concocted by the Cult of Kosmos^[3] in order to cull Leonidas' bloodline as retribution for his defiance decades earlier.^[4] Thus, despite his regal blood, the Elders of Sparta demanded the boy's death.^[5]

Alexios was to be sacrificed by being thrown from Mount Taygetos. At the summit, the infant was carried off towards the precipice by a Spartan elder while his family and the other Spartan elders watched. Protests by his sister Kassandra fell on deaf ears, for even his father Nikolaos sided with the elders. Desperate to save his life, Kassandra rushed at the elder carrying Alexios, inadvertently pushing both the elder and her brother to their apparent deaths.^[5]

Though merely an infant, Alexios miraculously survived the fall and was later found by Myrrine. As the boy was badly injured and near death, his mother took him to the Sanctuary of Asklepios in Argolis to save his life.^[6][7]

While in the Sanctuary, Alexios' injuries were deemed too severe for him to survive despite the priests' best efforts. Myrrine was convinced to leave the child to perish from exposure at the altar of Apollo nearby. Unbeknownst to her, Chrysis, a priestess of Hera and a Cult of Kosmos member, took Alexios as she had taken a number of children before.^[6] Against the priests' predictions, Alexios made a full recovery without any lasting handicaps.^[7]

Weapon of the Cult

Under Chrysis' care, Alexios grew up to become a weapon of the Cult and was named Deimos after the mythical Greek god of terror in order to inspire fear in the Cult's enemies.^[8] On one occasion during his youth, while hunting with a "friend" in a forest, he saw his companion be torn apart by a lioness protecting her cub. This moment reminded him, painfully, about the apparent abandonment he had suffered years prior.^[9]

For the next fifteen years, fueled by his rage, Deimos served the Cult without question until 431 BCE, when his first true test came in the form of his estranged sister.^[10] With the knowledge that his sister Kassandra was alive, the Ghost of Kosmos manipulated Deimos into casting aside any feelings of love and to disbelieve anything "the other child of the bloodline" said to him. He also received instructions to not kill her if he met her, but rather to hurt her.^[11]

In 431 BCE, after the Cultist Elpenor was found murdered, with his mask and robe missing, Deimos brought his decapitated head to a Cult conclave in the Sanctuary of Kosmos to announce that they had an impostor in their midst. He then proceeded to search for the impostor by picking Cultists at random and placing their hand upon their pyramidal artifact, which allowed him to see the memories of those he interacted with upon its surface. It was at this point that Deimos first came into contact with Kassandra, who had indeed infiltrated the conclave disguised as a Cultist.^[12]

Recognizing Kassandra's memories of Mount Taygetos and her murder of Elpenor, Deimos demanded to know who she was, quickly realizing she was his sister. Confused and enraged, he allowed her to leave and summarily executed the next Cultist, Epiktetos, to touch the Pyramid, falsely accusing him of being the traitor.^[12] Shortly thereafter, he pursued Kassandra to the island of Andros, where he accused her of throwing him from Mount Taygetos as a child, a charge that Kassandra denied. After a tense exchange, he warned his sister to stay out of his way and departed.^[13]

Two years later, Deimos struck at the heart of Athens. In the midst of a great plague, he hunted down and murdered Athens' leader Perikles in order to weaken the city's standing in their conflict with Sparta and pave the way for Kleon, the Cult's Sage for the Delian League branch, to take power. Kassandra was present to witness the incident but could do little to stop her brother, who escaped during the confusion.^[14]

Around 428 BCE, Deimos interrogated and tortured the sculptor Phidias for information on three mysterious symbols, carrying out the assignment that the Cultist Brison had been unable to finish. The only things Phidias could say about the symbols was "Itira! Korgath! Metin!", for that was all he had been able to glean in the short time he had studied them. Unsatisfied with Phidias' constant blubbering, Deimos beat the sculptor to death.^[15]

Fighting in the Peloponnesian War

In 425 BCE, Deimos took part in the Battle of Pylos, fighting on the side of the Athenian army. There, he engaged Kassandra in combat, after his sister had allied herself with Sparta's Peloponnesian League at the behest of the Spartan army commander Brasidas. During the battle, Deimos was nearly killed by a falling tree before being pushed to relative safety by Kassandra, though they both ended up unconscious.^[16]

Deimos and Kassandra were subsequently taken back to Athens, where the latter was imprisoned in a cell by Kleon. Intrigued by his sister's actions, Deimos waited outside her cell for her to wake up, whereupon he interrogated her. Suspicious of everything she said, Deimos rebuffed Kassandra's attempts at reconciliation. When Kleon interrupted them, and told Deimos to leave, he also verbally challenged Kleon's presumption of power over him.^[17]

In 422 BCE, Deimos and Kassandra met each other once more on the field of battle—this time at Amphipolis in Makedonia. There, Deimos killed Brasidas, impaling him through the chin on his own spear before engaging his sister in combat. The duel looked to be in his favor when, suddenly, he was mistakenly struck from behind by an arrow loosed by Kleon. Kassandra subsequently pursued and killed Kleon before returning to the battlefield to find Deimos gone.^[18]

Death

In August of 422 BCE,^[1] Deimos returned to Mount Taygetos to challenge his estranged family one final time. It was here that he was confronted with the truth of his actions and the manipulations of the Cult over his entire life.^[9] Despite Myrrine and Kassandra's pleas, their words fell on deaf ears, for his convictions would not change; he knew that he could not change for them.^[1]

Striking out at his mother with a concealed blade,^[1] Deimos forced his sister into a fight that ended when she fatally stabbed him through the neck with the Spear of Leonidas. His body was then thrown from the cliff by Kassandra, echoing his fall off the same mountain as an infant.^[9]

Legacy

Following Deimos' death, Kassandra claimed his Sword of Eden known as the Sword of Damokles and went on to use it for several years afterwards. In 405 BCE, Kassandra briefly reminisced about her late brother as she observed the blade, saying that she hoped she was making better use of it than Deimos.^[19]

In 2018, when the Assassin Layla Hassan relived Kassandra's genetic memories via a degraded genetic sample found on the Spear of Leonidas using her Portable Animus HR-8.5, it could simulate an alternate version of events. In it, Kassandra could save her brother, leading to him surviving beyond his historical death on Mount Taygetos and joining the Adrestia's crew alongside Myrrine, Nikolaos, and Stentor. Alternatively, Deimos could kill Myrrine, leading to Kassandra killing him in a slightly different manner.^[9]

When Layla needed to learn the locations of the symbols Deimos had brutally interrogated Phidias over, she reluctantly decided to relive his memories of the event, using a sample of his DNA she had recovered from the Spear of Leonidas. However, Layla struggled to go through with the interrogation and assimilated part of Deimos' aggressiveness through the Bleeding Effect.^[15]

Personality and traits

As Deimos, Alexios possessed a messiah complex, believing himself to be a "demigod" due to his Isu blood, someone who would bring order to the Greek world. Due to his harsh upbringing by the Cult of Kosmos, he displayed no empathy for anyone and a strong lust for violence and warfare. His nature was extremely intimidating, to the point where even the Cult feared his unpredictable wrath.^[12] Having a fiery temper, Deimos kept a weapon on him at all times.^[20]

Over the course of his interactions with Kassandra, however, Deimos became aware that the Cult was using him and began to lash out whenever they attempted to keep him in line, believing they were challenging his power.^[17] Despite realizing that his family had not abandoned him as he had been led to believe by the Cult, Deimos felt that he had committed too many atrocities to be redeemed and wished to die to escape the guilt. As such, he forced his sister to kill him by threatening their mother's life.^[1]

Skills and equipment

Thanks in part to his Isu bloodline and his personal weapon being a Sword of Eden, Deimos displayed powerful feats in combat. He was able to thrust the Sword of Damokles into the ground to release energy blasts or could even project energy beams from the sword tip. His combat prowess was so vast that he was able to quickly kill Brasidas, one of the best Spartan commanders at the time, within a few seconds as well as go toe-to-toe with Kassandra and her Spear.^[16][9]

Behind the scenes

Alexios is one of two selectable protagonists of the 2018 video game Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, alongside Kassandra. Regardless of who the player chooses, the two protagonists share the same story. However, the game's novelization confirms that Kassandra is the canonical protagonist and Alexios is Deimos.^[21] He is voiced by Michael Antonakos, who also provided his motion capture, and portrayed as a child by Leonidas Castrounis.

If players chose Alexios as the protagonist, then his and Kassandra's roles in the story are reversed, with Alexios being the elder sibling who becomes the Eagle Bearer while Kassandra is Deimos. Regardless, both characters share the same romance options. If the player chose Alexios as the protagonist, then he will meet Layla Hassan in the modern day to give her the Staff of Hermes Trismegistus despite being canonically deceased.

Etymology

Alexios (Αλέξιος) is an Ancient Greek name meaning 'defender'. Deimos, (Δεῖμος), meaning 'dread', is also the name for the deification of terror, regarded as the son of Ares and Aphrodite and the twin of Phobos ('fear') in Greek mythology. 'Deimos' and 'Phobos' are also the names of Mars' two moons.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Odyssey (first appearance)
  • The Lost Tales of Greece
• Assassin's Creed: Odyssey novel
• Assassin's Creed: Rebellion
• Assassin's Creed: Freerunners (non-canonical appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: Where's the Assassin? (non-canonical appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: Nexus VR (mentioned only)

Notes

Referencces